Hugh Rogers Fellowships
November 2013
This annual award enables up-and-coming artists, researchers and educators to learn from the best and brightest in one of the USA’s oldest cities.
Innovation is an important part of Melbourne’s history and it’s the cornerstone of our $28 billion knowledge economy.
With more than 428,000 people in Melbourne’s CBD employed in knowledge industries like higher education, medical research, ICT, architecture and design, and digital gaming and special effects, it’s clear Melburnians have the know-how to take our city into the next decade.
Punching above our weight in these fields resulted in a sister city relationship with Boston in the United States, which began in 1985. We’re connected to Boston by a common commitment to excellence in healthcare and medicine, information and biotechnology, education, the arts and culture.
A key part of our sister city relationship with Boston is the Hugh Rogers Fellowships. This annual award enables up-and-coming artists, researchers and educators to learn from the best and brightest in one of the USA’s oldest cities.
Hugh Rogers, AM BCom was instrumental in founding the Melbourne Boston Sister Cities Association. Mr Rogers recognised the importance of promoting the educational exchange between Melbourne and Boston, particularly in the strengths of medical research and the arts.
The aim of the fellowships is to provide opportunities that continue to expand and enhance Melbourne and Boston’s reputations as centres of knowledge excellence, and strengthen international relationships in the fields we have in common.
This year, four worthy women from diverse fields will travel to Boston to research, explore, learn and collaborate. Their work will continue to put Melbourne on the map.
The Hugh Rogers Fellowship will allow Dr Lauren Ayton, a clinician-scientist with a PhD in paediatric optometry and a postdoctoral position in the area of traumatic brain injury and ocular motor function, to travel to Harvard Medical School to work on an international task force. Dr Ayton, along with the Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, will work to gain consensus on the assessment and reporting of outcomes in vision restoration trials. Dr Ayton will lead this work, which will generate international standards in the field.
Christine Healey, the Education Manager at Heide Museum of Modern Art, is undertaking her PhD candidature at RMIT University, researching the practice and pedagogies of Australian art museum educators. Being awarded a Hugh Rogers Fellowship at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston enables Ms Healey to expand her research to include an American museum, through which comparisons may be made with local national art museum education practice.
Dr Rebecca Lim is a specialist in stem cells and regenerative medicine, currently at the Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, investigating the potential for amnion cells to help lung repair. Dr Lim recently uncovered a unique way in which amnion cells can trigger the recruitment of the lung’s resident stem cells to overcome lung disease. The Hugh Rogers Fellowship will enable Dr Lim to pursue a collaborative study with the leading expert in lung stem cells at Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Gemma Turvey is a pianist and composer and founded the chamber jazz ensemble The New Palm Court Orchestra. Ms Turvey also teaches at North Melbourne Institute of TAFE’s Bachelor of Music Program and the Hugh Rogers Fellowship will enable her to travel to Boston for a month of intensive improvisation workshops with multi Grammy award-winning cellist Eugene Friesen at Berklee College of Music. This comes ahead of the New Palm Court Orchestra hosting Friesen’s debut Australian appearance in March 2014.
I encourage you to follow the progress of these Melbourne innovators, as they travel to Boston and then continue their work at home.
Councillor Kevin Louey is Chair of the Economic Development portfolio at City of Melbourne.
melbourne.vic.gov.au/enterprisemelbourne/BusinessSupport/international/Pages/SisterCityBoston.aspx